Warren signs contract extension through 2022

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Thunderbird head football coach Demario Warren has signed a contract extension with Southern Utah University through the 2022 season, the Thunderbird Athletic Department has announced.

“President Wyatt and our athletic administration are making huge strides to build a nationally recognized football program in Cedar City,” Warren said in regards to signing an extension with the university. “I am grateful and thrilled that I can continue to be a part of that process.”

This past season Warren was named Co-Big Sky Coach of the Year, along with being named AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year, making him a finalist for AFCA National Coach of the Year.

“Coach Warren is a fantastic football coach, a positive role model, and a huge asset to this University,” SUU Athletic Director Debbie Corum said. “It is with a great deal of happiness that we announce that he will continue to lead the program into the future as we continue to build the athletic footprint of Southern Utah University.”

In just his second year in charge of the Thunderbird program, Warren led his team to a 9-2 overall record and a 7-1 record in Big Sky Conference play. Warren has also been very solid at home, sitting with a 9-1 record over two years at Eccles Coliseum.

Going into the season the Thunderbirds were picked to finish seventh in the league. It’s fair to say that they proved plenty of people wrong this season as Warren led the Thunderbirds to their second Big Sky Conference title in three seasons, when the Thunderbirds knocked off Northern Arizona 48-20 in their final game of the season.

Warren is 15-8 in two seasons as a head coach, and led the Thunderbirds to their first appearance in the Second Round of the FCS Playoffs.

The Thunderbirds also just announced an exciting and promising signing class, which was ranked No. 13 in the FCS by HERO Sports.

Southern Utah will open their 2018 football schedule against the University of North Alabama in Cedar City on September 1.